. >> this business about the libya conflict has been like the october mirage, it isn't an issue. >> liberal press spinning the libya situation is unimportant. is that true? and libya will be the center of foreign policy debated. we'll have full coverage with our panel. >> truth telling it straight is the best way. >> bill: it will be moderated by bob schieffer considered a liberal individual. will it matter? and also tonight. we'll take you down to boca raton, florida for the inside story with ed henry and carl cameron. caution, you are about to enter the no-spin zone. factor begins right now. >> bill: hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching the last showdown and that is the subject of talking points memo. tonight's foreign policy debate in boca raton will feature two different philosophies. president obama won the election last time by repudiating the american power as the big stick in the world. more obama believes the foreign policy decisions made by the bush-cheney administration hurt america because they alienated many countries that could have helped us. barack obama was a fierce o

ambassador to libya was about the security and washington kept ignoring him. up until his murder. this is "special report." >> bret: good evening. i'm bret baier. hours before the murder, chrissteins wrote a cable to his bosses at the state department, reiterating months of previous cables that security in benghazi and libya in general spiraling out of control. from several of more than 150 pages of official state department documents released today. as part of an expansive house investigation. james rosen has the latest. good evening. >> good evening. although the documents were written in the usual bureaucratic style of diplomats and security officers they take on the added poignancy. impact on read they're ranges from saddening to chilling. >> on the day he died, september 11, u.s. ambassador to libya, chrissteins signed a three-page cable labeled "sensitive" where he alerted the state department and other agencies to deal with growing problems in security in benghazi. lamenting that the security forces were too weak to keep the country secure. >> i'm stunned by the documents. i fig

states consulate in benghazi, libya, on the anniversary of 9/11. americans had questions. who did this? how? should our government have seen it coming? did president obama try to hide the truth? is this a huge scand that exposes a failed obama foreign policy? or is mitt romney just saying it is? tonight, we'll try to give you answers. we'll walk you step by step through the terror that unfolded that day. we'll break down the political maneuvering that followed. but we begin with a series of frightening developments and troubling decisions leading up to the horrific night in benghazi. it's a story you haven't heard. told by a man who tried to prevent what happened. on september 11, 2012. >> did you a close relationship with ambassador stevens? >> i lived and worked with him. >> bret: no one understands more than lieutenant colonel andrew wood. of the full extent of the fiasco that killed stevens. he worked closely with stevens for six months in libya before the violent death. a 24-year u.s. special forces veteran, woods' job was to try to prevent such an attack from occurring. >> it was

for more help because you had another parade of lies to spin. what was that spin? that libya was normalized. of libya has provided more killers of americans than any other country in world. what is the punishment for lying? for incompetence? has anyone been prosecuted? lost their pension? lost their job? how about their parking space? words are nothing. nothing. words are like the empty words to pat smith trying to find out how we her only son died. nothing more than words. how do you sleep at night? now to our state department spokesperson, victoria newland and the refusal to discuss intelligence gathered at that attack in libya. >> you know, we never talk about intelligence issues from this podium. at all i'm not in a position to comment on that here today. >> that is not true. you talk about intelligence issue when you want to talk about them and it's in your interest to do so. >> that's fair. >> judge jeanine: fox news chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge joins me. good evening. >> thank you for having me, judge. >> judge jeanine: good to have you on again. a l

tv screens? >> it was supposed to be one of triumphs of president obama's foreign policy. a libya without moammar khadafy. he had been one of the worst sponsors of terrorism. families of 189 americans murdered on pan am flight 183 knew that well. after the 2003 invasion of iraq he ended his secret nuclear program. >> i for one didn't buy it. i was deeply suspicious that moammar khadafy may be playing us. >> frank gaf ne89 is president of security policy. >> m away away's transformation from rogue even bizarre terrorist sponsor into one of america's most reliable allies is i think going to be seeing by historians as one of more bizarre twists of diplomatic history. >> bret: whatever the case, khadafy was a repressive leader caught by the surprise in the arab spring. world leaders are calling for him to go. >> moammar khadafy, last has lost legitimacy to lead. >> president obama orders the pentagon to provide air support. one anonymous obama staffer describes the strategy as leading from behind, a characterization the obama administration officially rejected. >> with the libya opera

terrorists murdered four americans in benghazi, libya on the anniversary of 9-11. americans had questions. who did this and how? should our government have seen it coming? did president obama try to hide the truth? is this a huge scandal that exposes a failed obama foreign policy? or is mitt romney just saying it is? tonight we will try to give you answers. we will walk you step by step fl through the terror that unfolded that day and we will breakdown the political maneuvers that is followed. we begin with a series of frightening developments and troubling decisions leading up to the horrific night at benghazi. it's a story you haven't heard told by a man who tried to prevent what happened on september 11th, 2012. >> did you have a close relationship with ambassador tore stevens? >> i worked with him for months from the time he went on there to the time he left. >> no one knows more the full extent of the fiasco that killed stevens. he worked closely with stevens for 6 months in libya before his violent death. a 24 year u.s. special forces veteran, wood's job was to try to prev

gaining control over much of libya. february 25th the u.s. state department withdraws all the personnel from the capital but six weeks later, april 5th, it sends stevens with a 12-man team by chartered boat to benghazi now under rebel control. as special representative to the rebels, stevens set up shop in the hotel. june 1st, 2011, a car bomb explodes in the parking lot in front of that hotel. steents academy his team decide it's too dangerous to stay there. in august, stevens and his team have a compound on the west side of city. >> it was rented from an owner who had a nice villa and several out buildings there. >> not a lot of security. >> inside the walls, four buildings, one is a large residence with a number of bedrooms in it. another residence has a cantina where the staff eats. across wait is what they call their tactical operations center built for staff, phones and security monitors. finally the barracks a small house by the main gate. it will house a libyan security force. october 20th, moammar khadafy is captured and killed. >> revolutions, killing goes on. while scores are

. there is brand new finger-pointing over what the president claims he knew about libya and when. republicans are saying this new report is based on selectively leaked information timed to take the pressure off president obama. according to the reporting of the the "wall street journal," parent company of this network. the c.i.a. intelligence briefing pointed to a protest as a possible motive for up to ten days after the attack that killed the u.s. ambassador and three others. republicans have criticized the united states ambassador to the united nations and other officials for saying that the attack likely stemmed from a protest. according to the reporting of the "wall street journal", the c.i.a. daily intelligence updates did not rule it out until accept 22 despite officials at office of the director of national intelligence who said by september 15 a protest had nothing to do with the attack. that is the top story. ed henry is live on it. the debate tonight is supposed to be about foreign possibility and the president has been playing a lot of defense on the libya attack. >>re

tol ct t gi salrhe libya terror attack. this is "special rort." eng 27ay f aap evolving presidential election. governor romney is now ahead of president obama in just released fox news polls this hour. 46 to 45%. he ao has a one perntag t , ooiea vae trentoritin 52 to 51. shift of four points. top story tonight is the growing fall-out from last month's terror attack in libya. the obama administration thasecowiog statements about. teove. henry looks at the latest episode of obama administration damage ntrol. but we begin wh chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge on what went down today just behind me on capitol hill. good evening. laeresodwhr pren lil aahr security decisions on the ground in libya and assertions by the administration. >> there was no protest. ot hth veeparent, f.b he s dtm fi wti be usventversight committee confirmed he told lawmakers a day after this attack on the benghazi consulate that he believed it was terrorism. >> i belie it was the ne lthy i was complex attack. >> ambassador kennedy defended ambassador susan rice who five days after the attack mad

off one last time. we expect to hear a lot about libya. >> president did not look into what happened. he did not inquire into what happened. >> we want to find out the driving force behind it. we need to get to the bottom of it. >> shep: tonight, fallout from the benghazi attack and the effects on the raid as we approach the final showdown in florida. days of violence shake lebanon, days after a major attack now concerns that syria's war could claim another country. >> shep: plus the n.f.l. investigating whether they used glue to help players get a grip on the ball. a sticky situation for the san diego chargers. >> shep: first, two hours to go until the final face-off between president obama and governor mitt romney. in boca raton, florida, tonight's topic, foreign policy. they said the president would be the favorite, analysts said. that was before the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi that killed the ambassador to libya and three other americans. since then the president has been slipping in the polls. look at the latest survey here in florida. a crucial swing state

strike in libya, upheaval in syria. development senator dick durbin versus lindsey graham. durbin and graham only on "fox news sunday." then it's been a roller-coaster ride in the polls. we'll talk numbers with the man in charge of gallup, the granddaddy of polling firms, frank newport. >> we'll ask our sunday panel what to expect in the race to the finish line. from a a tense debate to laughs over dinner, it was quite a week on the trail. and hello again from fox news in washington. with 16 days 'til the election president obama and 0 governor romney meet one last time monday night for a debate on foreign policy. we want to preview the issues with a debate of our own. dick durbin joins us from his home state of illinois. a top republican on foreign policy, senator lindsey graham is in his home state of south carolina. let's start with breaking news. a report in today's "new york times" that iran and the u.s. agreed in principal to one-on-one talks about iran's nuclear program. the white house said last night they have not agreed to talks but that the u.s., the administration, is open

on libya and find out what happened in benghazi. you are right. bring it back to the economy. can't hurt. >> andrea: you bring up the point to libya. trouble off the top. but there could be october surprise. something that the president may say or announce. >> eric: great point. i talk to sean spice. he needs to not step in land mine and not go where president obama can suck him in and ambush him on something he's not expecting. he made a great point. first debate, he defined to the american people he could be president. in the second debate he worked where he didn't want to be and got hit. this is romney's to lose. there is a big unemployment number coming out november 2. if romney does well. doesn't step on any land mines and bring the economy back to unemployment they feel it's his race to lose. >> dana: that is perfect segue to my question. if romney were to explain -- youtant get in details about everything. but can he make a case that a stronger economic america under his leadership makes it stronger leader in the world an able to utilize the super power to further peace and s

its story over what it knew about security lapses in libya. we will hear from a congressman investigating what went wrong. >> now, i believe that life begins at conception. the policy of a romney administration will be to oppose abortion. >> i accept my church's position on abortion. i just refuse to impose that on others. >> laura: at last night's debate push the democrats war on women claim back to the forefront of the campaign? we will hear from both sides. caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone, the factor begins right now. hi, everyone, i'm laura ingraham in for bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. the truth about the debate. that's the subject of this evening's talking points memo. joe biden showed up last night in kentucky with twin goals, one, to blunt mitt romney's post debate momentum and two to give a boost to a democratic base that had become quite anxious after the president's terrible denver debate performance. i will give biden this much. last night he went from being a gaffe omatic to being a laugh omatic. >> the obama administration had t

over the white house's handling of the deadly attack on the consulate in libya. the associated press reporting that the cia station chief in libya reported to washington within hours of the attack saying it was the work of terrorists. martha: intelligence sources telling "the wall street journal" the night before ambassador susan rice went on all the sunday shows and said the attack was smashed by spontaneous protests analysts had contradicting that account. how could that happen? it took weeks for the white house to change the story to get all their ducks in a row. former u.n. ambassador john bolton is here on all that. bill: also the final faceoff between election, between now and election day is monday night. president obama and governor romney though, sharpening their knives and getting ready for the third and last debate, the last showdown before voters head to the polls. they had a few laughs last night, didn't they? martha: they were pretty funny, both of them. bill: good morning on a friday. i'm bill hemmer. martha: good morning. i'm martha maccallum. both sides are campaigni

, and now take a look at it. it is a four-point advantage for him. is that all because of libya? >> well, it would certainly seem to be that way, and it's a double problem for the president, one, there is the basic fact, and the fact that the administration was hoping to avoid with their public response, which was being held accountable for whatever failures at whatever level lead to this successful attack by islamists militants on a u.s. outpost on the anniversary of september 11th. that was never going to be a good thing or help the president's status on foreign policy with voters. and the handling of it, it has continued even until yesterday on the daily show with jon stewart the president continues to have trouble explaining what happened and explaining how he managed to talk about this in the way that he did. so, yeah, you'd have to say that libya is at the heart of that big drop. megyn: it's amazing what a difference that issue is starting to have in this election, because the same polling group did a poll on foreign policy about a week ago and asked about everything from

on twitter, the fol are weighing in on the libya situation. "the fact that the president and vice president would blame the state department show as lack of leadership." what do you think? let me know. have a great weekend. shear trace here for shepard smith. >>trace: the news begins anew on "studio b." the white house facing new questions of what it knew before last month's deadly attack in libya after the vice president said in last night's debate the administration did not know about requests for more security. that is despite the intense testimony in congress that the requests went ignored. who was the big winner? it depends on who you ask. we will show you what the polls show and what the showdown could meet as voters cast their ballots. >> hack attack. just as destructive as the attacks of 9/11, the secretary of defense out with a stunning new warning about our nation's cyber security. that is all ahead unless breaking news changes everything. this is "studio b." >> first from fox at 3:00, the white house today defending vice president joe biden's comments on the deadly atta

damaging new report on what happened in libya. it is not the store store that the white house is pedaling. could the timing be worse for the president. >> brian: is it a fight he wants to have. the swing states swinging further in romny's case. what is he doing? what is the president doing to catch up? "fox and friends" starts right now. >> brian: this is the last time we have to stay up late 10:30 and sleep for 90 minutes. >> steve: tomorrow we'll be sleep deprived after watching late and short turn around . we are up for it it is our job. gretchen: yes. of course, we do. just a few hours from now. president obama and mitt romney will meet face to face in florida. the focus is foreign policy. john roberts. i am scared to see what your wake-up call. >>> i went to bed later. we talk about the importance of the debates. it is important when you look at politico george tracking poll. all issues will be on the table. iran and libya and syria and china, and we have an idea of where mitt romney will go watching his running mate talking about president obama's cuts to the military in the sequest

talk about that. bill: another day and more fallout from the terror attack in libya. critics questioning the white house's changing story. >> his united nations speech was a disgrace. for an american president to go to the u.n. and apologize six times for a youtube video by some nut cake? first of all we should be defending the right of free speech. >> what was and what was not said in the days and weeks before the attack that killed our ambassador? we'll be back with that in a moment. martha: a big reaction to the presidential debate. karl rove said the president may have won the battle but he believes he is losing the war. we'll tell you the key issue mr. rove says the president is losing on. a look ahead to next week's big monday night showdown. >> i love these debates, you know. these things are yate. and, -- great. i think it is interesting that the president still doesn't have an agenda for a second term. don't you think that it its time for him to finally put together a vision of what he would do in the next four years if he were elected. he has got to the come up with

of the united states had. when you were all making a big deal out of libya, i don't know how many words romney spent on libya -- >> greg: three. >> bob: three words? >> greg: three words. >> bob: you just interrupted me. >> dana: that was helping. >> bob: there are times that romney said i agree with the president, i agree with the president. who is kidding who? >> andrea: you hate him when he disagrees and hate him when he agrees. >> bob: the waffleer he is. >> eric: i'll go. take it around. it couldn't figure out what is going on, sitting in the spin room watching this. people are watching and i saw president obama being aggression i and i saw romney let the conversation move on to wherever president obama wanted to go. even when bob schieffer wanted to move him on, he was kay with it. 30 in i realized what he was doing. he is going to, he feelings he has the base. he wants to lock down the female vote. he has proven he can be tough. showing he can be a tough president. this one he wanted to prove he could be a statesman. he could be well thought out. and not what thelet has bee

full of squabbling about the dialogue over the libya terror attack and breaking news over another attempted act of terrorism. chief white house correspondent ed enry i henry is following itl from ohio. good evening. >> good evening. the fbi confirms to fox that today they arrested a suspect who was planning to attack the new york fed. he had actually bought some sploifs but they stressed the public was never in any danger. the latest threat comes amid increasing pressure on the white house over whether or not they dropped the ball in benghazi. for months, president obama has touted the death of osama bin laden and the idea that al-qaeda is on the run. with questions after the last claim about the terror attack in libya, the president dropped the al-qaeda fort from his stump speech. >> i said we would focus on the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and we did, and osama bin laden is dead. >> the day after the attack, governor, i stood in the rose garden and i told the american people and the world that we'll find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror. >> republi

president with eight mentions of big bird and five of elmo and no mention of libya or plans to fix the economy, suggesting he is running from his record and lack of ideas. romney's campaign says it will stop using the count as soon as obama for america takes down the big bird ad. >>shepard: thank you, wendell. can you tell me how to get back to ohio and although polls show governor romney is closing the gap, pollsters say it is an uphill battle. erin, nice to see you. who knew our friends at "says me street," would be talked about so were. you need that state if you are romney? >>guest: you do. it is 18 electoral votes and there is no other way he can get to 270 needed to win without ohio. very important state. that is why he has three events there tomorrow. >>shepard: real clear politics does an average of all the polls. there has been a lot made about polls recently and the enormous swing especially coming to women, but what is the thinking of you folks at real clear politics? >>guest: the debate helped mitt romney. what is important to note, two weeks ago mitt romney did a big three

time. the obama campaign said the libya cover up thing shouldn't be ash. >> it is the first ut ambassador that has been killed . susan rice and others told the story that was not true. and you said not to discuss it. we should wait for the investigation should be completed. >> gretchen: do you think it is important to discuss. we'll play you the feisty exchange. >> steve: the great lady new york times under fire for libya. but this is on the cover. women in north korea getting shorter skirts. oh, yeah, great. >> brian: we need a second source on that. a stunt goes wrong when a bar breaks on a 4,000 cliff. >> gretchen: wow. "fox and friends" starts right now. ♪ "fox and friends". >> steve: you know it looked like the show on abc called wipe out where people try to make it on the end and jump and next thing you know. >> gretchen: that didn't look like. you know that baumgartner guy who flew down the sound barrier, only he may have been able to survive. >> brian: the cold was fog yet suit was not keeping his body warm and it was freezing up as it went through the atmosphere. >>

president in a more forceful way, which i think was deserved sometimes, whether on libya and on the president's other claims. bill: how was the president then? you label him as condescending and disrespectful and strong words and negative too. steve, why? >> i really thought the president was out of line several times. the clip you played we have these ships and airplanes canned land on them, really mocking mitt romney. there is a way to make clear that your opponent in the case of governor, of barack obama, didn't know, hasn't done foreign policy before. without being so con do sending and for a candidate who has had the strong likeability advantage in poll after poll after poll, i wonder if he really didn't risk eroding that advantage by being so aggressive and so petty and so disrespectful that is interesting analysis. cnn did a snap poll on likeability and they called it a draw too on the two men. we'll see how it plays. steve hayes in boca. thanks, stove. martha: first up, fox news political senior analyst brit hume on quote, condescending looks steve was talking about. brit sa

four americans in libya just over five weeks ago, and the controversy over how this administration has handled this since. welcome to a unique edition of "america live," everyone, i'm megyn kelly. over the next hour, we are going to try and bring you this libya scandal start to finish, including the moment earlier today when the chairwoman of the senate intelligence committee, a democrat, criticized the president's national intelligence director by name for getting the story on libya wrong from the very start. to understand how this became such a big controversy, let's look at the key elements, the key events of the last five weeks in this report narrated by our own "special report" host,wet t baer -- bret baier. >> the u.s. ambassador to libya, our ambassador, has been killed along with three other americans after a series of attacks -- >> america's commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. but let me be clear, there is no justification for this. none. >> the focus at the romney press availability, his overnight press release. >> governor romney,

heels when i say it went to libya and hey, you said one thing and ambassador rice said either. and now a drone over head. well, we know it is a difficult situation and fighting al-qaida. >> gretchen: i mouth fell to the bed. >> brian: i thought i can't believe what john mccain will. >> gretchen: that is one of the huge headlines. senior national correspondont john roberts up again and live in boca raton, florida. >> i am beginning to get used to this. >> gretchen: yeah. >> dejavu. >> steve: oh, my goodness. >> yes, you talk about last night's debate. it was more domestic than foreign policy than i have seen. governor romney would try to bring it back in his wheel house and talk about a foreign policy that was based on strength. economically and diplomatically peace through strength and president obama looking presidential and disabuse people that he is a waffling warmonger. the president tried to undercut that and going on the attack from the beginning and including this exchange over mideast policy, watch. >> what we need to do with respect to the middle east is strong steady lead

"studio b" today. the men who claim the state department ignored requests for security in libya testified in front of a republican-led house of reesentatives cote veigatthe dtt tnse igh a edstration's response. what a day it has been. if you have not been watching, wait until you hear this. the former head of a 16-member u.s. military team in libya, lt. colonel wood t thhousof prtas oignd rn r cttet , su benghaz never had the forces it needed to protect itself. never. >> the security in benghazi was a struggle and remained a struggle through my time there. the situation remained uncertain andreports from someya caitas in e. pl sitemea ri tre was only one u.s. diplomatic security agent stationed there. they struggled to obtain additional prsonnel but was never able to attain t nuers deme onsety ce libya testified, as well. here is what he said, that the united states could not count on lib jab security forces to help with security adequately. >> the libya temporary seritysstoloas unable to extend ion ay are expecting to see around the world. we could not rely on the libyan govern

. consulate in libya as the mother of one murdered american is speaking out. that's raising new concerns about security at the consulate where the u.s. embassador and three other americans were killed. grieving mother pat smith says critical questions remain under answered about her son, sean's death. >> how did my son die? why did he die? especially why weren't there security people? they told me there were five security people there. who were they and why didn't they do something? some of those security people got killed and some did not. >> still such a tragedy. good morning, everyone, i'm jamie colby. >> i'm eric. >> this development comes as secretary of state hillary clinton says the u.s. is doing what it can to protect its people around the world. >> and we will never prevent every act of violence or terrorism or achieve perfect security. our people cannot live in bunkers and do their jobs. >> so how do we protect americans serving overseas and is that the message we want to send to those risk their lives. john bolton joins us as he does every sunday at this time. he's in

mentions about libya and zero plans to fix the economy. this is going in a very interesting direction this morning. bill: back and forth we go. thank you, john. we'll follow the campaign stoplighter in iowa. martha: we'll talk about all that "sesame street" stuff later in the show. governor romney starting his day in the key battleground state of iowa. the state carries six electoral votes. later today, president romney and governor romney head to buckeye state. ohio has of course 18 electoral votes. bill: we all know ohio is important, right? especially for republican ledger. ohio has voted for winner in last eight presidential elections. no republican has ever won the white house without winning the buckeye state. in 2008, the president beat john mccain by 300,000 votes in ohio. martha: in michigan, paul ryan got a bit fed up after getting grilled on gun violence. here is about the problem. >> does this country have a gun problem. >> this country has a crime problem. >> not a gun problem? >> no, if you look at gun laws i don't think even president obama is proposing more gun laws. w

polling that ms. laura talked about. later, jeanine pirro very angry about libya and megyn kelly concerned as well. the ladies will be here in just a few momen >> bill: impact segment tonight, as we told you in the talking points memo both the president and governor romney are making personal appeals to the voters. joining us now from boston, marianne march and prosecute washington kirsten powers both democrats. kirsten, why do you think the gender gap is closing according to the associated press? >> well, i think what happened is that and lake who is the democratic pollster and expert on women has been quoted saying as much that they sort of overplayed well, i'm going to say they sort of overplayed the war on women and what so linda has said that basically women went into the first debate actively disliking mitt romney. and the reason they actively disliked mitt romney is because they basically had had a picture painted for them of this man who wanted to essentially tie them down and force them to breed and take away their contraception. this other person showed up. i think it w

-liar strategy work. and congressional hearings in libya shed new light on what happened before, after and during the attack in benghazi and raises new questions put administration's response. welcome to the journal editorial report. all eyes were on kentucky thursday height when vice president joe biden and paul ryan squared off on everything from reform to eye ran to middle class taxes. >> the middle class got knocked on their heels, the great recession crushed them, they need some help now. the last people who need help are 120,000 families for another, another $500 billion tax cut over the next ten years. >> there aren't enough rich people in small businesses to tax to pay for all their spending. and so the next time you hear them say don't worry about it, we will get a few wealthy people to pay their fair share, watchout, middle class, the tax bill is coming to you. >> joining the panel this week, wall street journal columnist and deputy editor, dan, and jason riley. >> he did energize the base. after last week's debate performance by obama, democrats were concerned. they w

insistence that the attack on the consulate in libya was a riot about a mob angry about islam movement. >> as the administration concedeed the attacks were the deliberate work of terrorists. >> team obama called the rhetoric erratic and wants a counterattack ad to run in virginia slamming the poorly reviewed european trip four months ago. >> if this is how he handles the world now, think what romney might do as president. >> eager to look resolute and ready to be commander-in-chief romney promised actions. >> for the sake of peace, we must make clear to iran through actions not just words that the nuclear pursuit will not be tolerated. >> he pledged help to rebels trying to topple the regime and renewed the charge that obama administration threw israel under the bus. >> i'd restore the presence of the aircraft task forces in the eastern mediterranean and the gulf. i'll work with israel to increase our military assistance and coordination. >> reporter: regarding afghanistan, romney said the president depicted anyone who disagrees with the withdrawal timetables as someone arguin

romney is regularly hitting president obama hard on libya. >> the attack on our consulate can't be blamed on a video insulting islam. despite the administration's attempts to convince of that. >> but they insist the only reason it's a political issue at all is because romney and ryan are making it one. october 11th, right before the vice presidential debate, i asked her if she really meant that. >> what are you suggesting. are you suggesting we are playing politics with this? you have been -- >> this has become the political topic. four people are dead. >> absolutely. this administration. let me get my sentence out. this administration has treated this entire tragedy with the utmost seriousness. at the same time we're doing that, we have two people campaigning around the country accusing us of covering something up. >> bret: but in the vice presidential debate itself, the moderator makes libya her first question. >> wasn't this some massive intelligence failure. >> it was a tragedy. we will get to the bottom of it. mistakes that were made will not be made again. >> what we are watc

in incident on an internet video. od rarhharessman jasffz wh lyaast wk. >> when i was in libya a good part of the day never once did a person ever mention a vid. never. and i am fascinated to know and understand from the president of enidtates, fro ety,ndro na ty can justify that this video caused this attack. it was a terrorist attack. >> reporter: chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge joins us live in washington. we know you've bati t r h oni t cma s ste dartmen in that late-day briefing to reporters made his position known drawing a sharp distinction from the white house narrative that was a demonstration that spun out of control. >> they hd a broad news confenceveheho thtevnar department's position, i repeat, never been the state department's position that in fact this assault was part of a row actio reaction to a s croray numous tnes ast-bwers. >> reporter: committee members told this morning in opening statements that there was a preoccupation in washington with reducing the number of american security personnel at the consulate and rlacing them with libyan gu

former security commander in libya says the consulate did not have enough protection. >> attacks were on the increase. in june, the aasdor ceived a th oack. >>er ari t cun adbe security upgrades. >> now the state department confirms the attack did not start out as a protest as u.s. officials originally claimed. >> it was a spontaneous reaction to what d just transfired i ir erlyreng et heotfmbdo rice's false statement. >> if any admintration official, including any career official, were on television on sunday, september 16, they would have said what ambassador rice said >> tonight the lateson the search forwe uspageus bringing one heck of an arsenal onto a flight to the u.s a grenade, a hatchet, gas mask, body bags, and that is just the beginning ar a y o b dro i a crash. >> these are counterfeit air bags perpetrated and created by criminals. >> tonight what the feds say drivers need to know. i'm bill hemmern srd it b wusn equate security at the libyan consulate where gunmen killed four americans including our ambassador. the former head of a u.s. military teain libya was among those

administration's changing response to the terror attack in libya that killed our ambassador and three other americans a little more than a month ago. joining us now to explain what to watch for and why it matters, chris stirewalt, our fox news digital politics editor and host of "power play" on foxnews.com along with marc thiessen, who's a washington post columnist and a former george w. bush speech writer. gentlemen, welcome to lynn university. here's the interesting thing i saw, stirewalt, in preparation for this debate. the president was 15 points up in the polls on foreign policy prior to debate number one in denver. now coming into this debate it is anybody's ball game. what explains that, and who has the most, the most risk in tonight's performance? be. >> well, certainly the greatest pressure is on the president who needs to change the trajectory of this election. because if things keep going as they're going, he will lose. mitt romney's momentum that he started picking up in that debate has continued, maybe it was slowed in the vice presidential debate, the second presidential

the debate. why wasn't there enough security at our libya consulate on september 11? the congress grilled the state department and the white house continues to dodge the issue. why the dodge? coverup or incompetence? >> initial assessments in the immediate aftermath of the attack in benghazi were made. and it was a government-wide assessment, the foundation of what ambassador right rice said and others said, with the limited faces that we had available to us at that time. >> let's understand, there was no protest. and cameras reveal that and the state department, the fbi and others have that video. speaking of video, the one in california made by an individual and out there for a period of time, also clearly had no direct effect on this attack. >> when i was in libya, good part of the day, never once did a person ever mention a video. never. and i am fascinated to know and understand from the president of the united states, from the secretary of state and from the ambassador to the united nations, how they can justify that this video caused this attack. it was a terrorist attack.

libya. and the administration's mixed messages. then there are the gaffes. >> how they can justify raising taxes in the middle class has been buried the last four years. >> reporter: they may give ryan fodder, analyst note the vice president performs better when the speaking time is limited. >> in debates; particularly, against sarah palin four years ago he was disciplined. i don't think -- i think the republicans will be unwise to count on a biden gaffe. >> reporter: fox learned that the vice president was all over the place in his first debate prep session. that's why david axelrod and other top obama aides took over the debate prep. bottom line, a little rusty after four years of not debating. i'm told by the top democrats he did at least six intensive debate prep sessions. they are confident he is ready tonight, bret. >> bret: okay, ed. thank you. the presidential candidates are taking something of a backseat to their running mate today. and getting ready for their own rematch next week. chief political correspondent carl cameron has that story. >> hello, miami! [ applause ] >>

have confirm ited that the u.s. mission in libya had made repeated requests for increased security but it was denied. if you find that to be the case and you also were able to determine at least from his own diary that the ambassador was in fear what are the sanctions, what are the consequences, what can you do? >> well, that first we have to start with the facts to determine that when you get sanctions my sense is it is accountability should be for anybody within the organization who turned a blind eye to the requests. our principal is to make sure to understand and make sure that communications are working effectively and they are appropriately protected in other locations as well. >> judge jeanine: you know, congress mappman you can even k at fast and furious. took forever to resolve itself and immigrations made by darrell issa turned out to be pretty accurate. there were few if any consequences. my question is this -- will there be a review or are a assessment of ambassador rice's comments about this being a fake movie that was the spur of that? and will there be some kind of accou

increasing in libya before the attack? >> i'm not aware of any. this is matter that is under investigation in terms what precipitated the attack and what the motivation of the attackers were. >> that night on the late show with david letterman, story seems to shift slightly. president obama says the video did spark muslim outrage where terrorism exploited. >> we had a video released that by somebody who lives there, a shadowy character. it caused great offense in much of the muslim world, but what also happened was extremists and terrorists use this as an excuse to attack a variety of our embassies including the one the consulate in libya. >> capitol hill, the head of national terrorism center testifies and plainly states what everyone already notion. >> i would say, yes, they were killed in the course of a terrorist attack. >> september 24th, the view. >> there is no doubt the kind of weapons that were used, the ongoing assault that it wasn't just a mob action. >> next day, september 25th the president mentions the video six times at the united nations. >> there is no video

gaining control over much of libya. february 25th the u.s. state department withdraws all the personnel from the capital but six weeks later, april 5th, it sends stevens with a 12-man team by chartered boat to benghazi now under rebel control. as special representative to the rebels, stevens set up shop in the hotel. june 1st, 2011, a car bomb explodes in the parking lot in front of that hotel. steents academy his team decide it's too dangerous to stay there. in august, stevens and his team have a compound on the west side of city. >> it was rented from an owner who had a nice villa and several out buildings there. >> not a lot of security. >> inside the walls, four buildings, one is a large residence with a number of bedrooms in it. another residence has a cantina where the staff eats. across wait is what they call their tactical operations center built for staff, phones and security monitors. finally the barracks a small house by the main gate. it will house a libyan security force. october 20th, moammar khadafy is captured and killed. >> revolutions, killing goes on. while scores are

, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. despite a wide-ranging debate it was libya that sparked the biggest exchange of the evening. it started with the president taking responsibility for the security failures. governor romney chimed in looking for answers. watch some of this. >> when it comes to this issue i say we'll find out exactly what happened, everybody will be held accountable and i am ultimately responsible for what is taking place there because these are my folks, and i'm the one who has to greet those coffins when they come home. >> i think the president said correctly the buck does stop at his desk and he takes responsibility for that, for the failure in providing those security resources and those terrible things may well happen from time to time. there were many days that passed before we knew whether this was a spontaneous demonstration or whether it was a terrorist attack. and there was no demonstration involved and it was a terrorist attack and it took a long time for that to be told to the american people. but what i find more troubling than that, on the day follo